


Show Me

by TheSecondBatgirl



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 01:18:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/pseuds/TheSecondBatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spot Conlon was always on the winning side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Show Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eirenical (chibi1723)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi1723/gifts).



The first time Spot Conlon set eyes on Jack Kelly was the first time Jack came to Brooklyn. Spot had already been ruling the Brooklyn Newsies for a year by that point, but Jack had just become the unofficial leader of his boys, because Manhattan boys never actually bothered to run things efficiently. Still, you didn’t get into any position of power without going to see Spot Conlon and the Brooklyn Newsies. Not if you wanted to remain in power anyway.

There were rumors about Jack Kelly. He’d been sent to the Refuge. Not that this was unusual - there was barely a Newsie in New York who hadn’t been threatened with the Refuge at some point. But people said that Jack had tried to protest conditions there, which was stupid. There were battles that you needed to fight, but picking a losing fight didn’t help you hold onto your power.

But people also said that Jack Kelly had escaped from the Refuge. Riding out with Teddy Roosevelt himself. That spoke of more cunning and planning, and it was something that Spot admired. Of course, he wasn’t so sure that it was true. They were Newsies after all, and if you couldn’t improve the truth a little, you were never going to sell your papes. Something had happened, that’s for sure, because otherwise Jack would still probably be in the Refuge.

Jack Kelly was a contradiction - he was a leader without actively leading. He picked hopeless battles, but seemed to come out on top. He was something different, and that something had Spot’s attention.

Not that he thought Jack would fit in in Brooklyn. That sort of attitude didn’t last long around the Brooklyn boys.

When Jack and Racetrack made their way over to the docks where Spot held court after he was done selling, Spot took the time from his vantage point to inspect them both. Racetrack looked nervous, but then again, he’d been a Brooklyn Newsie, having left for Manhattan right before Spot took over Brooklyn from Bridge. Spot hadn’t seen him since. They’d been friends, of a sort, before Spot had taken over. But Racetrack had enough Brooklyn in him still to know that friendship wasn’t really something you could ask for anymore.

Jack, on the other hand, looked cheerful, although Spot could see the concealed wariness behind the facade. That was good, at least. Spot’s carefully constructed reputation was part of what let him hold onto Brooklyn as well as he had, and if he didn’t get the proper respect from the other leaders, then holding onto Brooklyn would be more difficult. That was why Racetrack had left.

 

“Hey, Spot,” Jack said with an almost casual air. He was Manhattan boy all right - they didn’t want to be feared. To get along there, you had to be liked. You had to convince the others to trust you.

Spot didn’t trust easily. Never had.

Spot hopped down from his seat on the docks. “Jacky boy,” he said coolly. If Jack wanted to play it that way, that was fine with him.

“Just thought I’d introduce myself, since I hear you’re the power in these parts,” Jack said.

Spot nodded at him, gesturing with his cane. “I am,” he said. “So you think you can do a better job with your boys then the idiot before you?”

More nervousness started to show on Jack’s face, but he held his ground. “I’ll take care of my friends,” Jack said.

“Well,” Spot said. “You’ll have to show me what you can do.”

*

Over the next few months, Spot didn’t really see Jack or any of the other boys from his territory. Rumors came through, about how Jack was spending his time winding up the Delancey brothers. Racetrack still came to sell in Brooklyn occasionally, and when he was questioned about the goings on, all he would say was that everyone there seemed happy. The selling was good, nobody was trying to poach their territory. They’d managed to get through the winter with little trouble, although that might have been due to the war driving up sales.

Jack hadn’t come to see him since. Which was good, in a way. People only came to see Spot Conlon to either pay their respects or ask for help. The Brooklyn boys were tough because they had to be. And a lot of people wanted their help.

Which ended up being the reason that he saw Jack Kelly again.

Brooklyn wasn’t too happy about old man Pulitzer jacking up the price, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one. He was starting to make plans to expand some of his territory, so that his boys wouldn’t suffer too much, when word started to filter in that Jack’s boys had gone on strike.

Sure, Spot knew about unions; he did read the papes after all, and they’d been reporting on the trolley workers for weeks now. But leading a strike wasn’t the sort of thing that you could do if you wanted to be friends.

The walking mouth that Jack had brought with him spoke a good game, but Jack and his boys weren’t Brooklyn. They weren’t the sort to fight. Pretty words weren’t going to be enough to win against Pulitzer. It was going to be a lost cause, and Spot Conlon didn’t get attached to lost causes.

“How do I know you punks won’t run the first time some goon comes at you with a club? How do I know you got what it takes to win?”

He stared at Jack, waiting for the response.

“Because I’m telling you, Spot.” Trust, friendship, that was Manhattan all right.

“That ain’t good enough, Jacky Boy. You gotta show me.”

He’d have to watch and see. Find out if there was some Brooklyn in Jack Kelly after all.

*

He didn’t have to wait long, as it turned out. Most of the Newsies in the city were looking to see what would happen; nobody else would join, not until they knew what Spot decided to do.

So when word came out that the strike was holding, that the Manhattan boys had fought back, well... maybe then it was time for Spot and the Brooklyn boys to join in. If Manhattan was willing to fight, then maybe this wasn’t such a lost cause after all.

After all, if Spot joined, it wouldn’t be a lost cause. Because Spot Conlon always joined with the winning side.

And maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to figure out the mystery of how Jack Kelly seemed to inspire people wherever he went.


End file.
